Comparison of conventional filtration and a denuder-based methodology for sampling of particulate-phase mercury in ambient air

This paper compares the results of total atmospheric particulate-phase mercury determinations using samples collected by two methods. The conventional filtration method (FM) collects airborne particulate matter first, whereas the denuder-based method (DM) removes gaseous-phase mercury prior to particulate matter collection. In each case, particulate-phase mercury (PM) is collected on a quartz fiber disc held in a miniaturized device and is analyzed using a pyrolysis/gold amalgamation/thermal desorption/cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS) technique. The results show that the concentrations of PM determined using the samples collected by DM are higher than those determined using the samples collected by FM. Evidence presented shows that the higher results are due to mercury-bearing gold particles flaking off from the gold-coated denuder surfaces in the denuder-based sampling system.